


Pumpkin Man

by wigglebox



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Friendship, Halloween, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 03:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8186999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wigglebox/pseuds/wigglebox
Summary: Cas is dragged along to a haunted hayride he never wanted to go on.





	

Castiel’s first mistake was getting off the hayride. His second mistake was taking pictures of the decorations strung up on the trees. One of the skeletons hanging from the lower branches looked a lot like Donald Trump, so he made sure he took plenty of pictures for his friend, Leslie. 

Cas turned after he snapped the last less-than-artful picture with his phone only to see that the hayride tour group boarded without him, and left. 

The situation didn’t hit him at first. He knew he had a flashlight, and there was a path, ish. But as he took a few steps in one direction, dread settled into the pit of his stomach. He was in a town he’s never been before, a rural spit of land with maybe 300 people living in the town. The hayride took the group from a large farm just as the sun sank beneath the horizon, and meandered slowly through dummies and actors and a field of hay towards the woods. 

They were in the woods for a while, once again being scared by actors along the trail and the dangling ghouls and skeletons from the trees. The path that the ride took wasn’t lit, being only guided by headlights from the tractor. 

Cas was lost. 

Dread turned to anger in a flash as he kicked a nearby tree. He didn’t even  _ want _ to go to this, but was dragged along by a group of his classmates from the university. He didn’t like being scared, he didn’t like Halloween, but he sucked it up because how bad could it be? 

Bad. His phone was nearly dead from taking pictures for an incessant Leslie who wanted to see  _ everything _ while being stuck in her bed with the flu. There was no cell service, and google maps still thought he was on campus and couldn’t update. All he had was his flashlight and 25% battery. 

_ I’ll stay right here. I’ll stay here and someone will realize they went on without me and double back _ Cas told himself, taking deep breaths. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. Turning, he saw out of the corner of his eye something shaking in the wind. Cas jumped and turned and faced it completely before he realized it was just a skeleton hanging from a noose. It dangled eerily in the darkness. 

Cas kept his eyes on it as he sank down against a tree. The moonlight was helping him adjust more to the darkness. He could make out trees several feet away now. He glanced around and saw more swinging decorations above him, including the Donald Trump replica. Shivering, he brought his attention back to the swinging skeleton on the noose. 

“Just you and me.”

The skeleton, which he decided to name Frank so it wasn’t as spooky, jangled its limbs in acknowledgement. Cas smiled. He remembered Horace the Skeleton in his anatomy class a few years back during his undergrad. They dressed him up and took him on field trips, even used him to prank the Dean of Students who was constantly on his phone. 

Cas brought his phone back out and checked the time. Only ten minutes had passed though it felt like an hour and the wind picked up. Cas shivered slightly under his windbreaker, annoyed he didn’t bring a heavier coat. Annoyed at everything. 

A strong gust blew through the trees at a bone chilling pace, and Frank popped right off the rope he swung violently from. Cas jumped as the skeleton landed right at his feet. 

Before he could reach out for Frank, a twig snapped somewhere to his left. 

Cas jerked around on instinct to stare into the black. It was pointless, the fall foliage blocked a good portion of moonlight and Cas could still only see several feet in front of him. 

Another snap, closer this time. 

Cas jumped to his feet, heart pounding out of his chest. His phone clattered to the ground. Cas dropped to his knees and raked his hands over the rocks to find it, eyes staring into the void which stared right on back. 

His fingers found the smooth glass surface and he stumbled back onto his feet. The flashlight twinkled on, his phone now at 20%. 

It did little good, the tiny beam of light only stretching the same several feet Cas could already see in the dark. 

“Hello?” He asked, too quiet against the wind. He sounded like a child. Clearing his throat, Cas stood taller while ignoring his nerves. 

“Who’s there?” The wind dampened his voice but it was stronger than before, sounding braver than he felt. 

No one answered him and Cas thought about sitting back down again, but then a light emerged from a distance tree. At first, Cas figured it to be the tractor but the sound of an engine was absent. The light moved from right to left, almost hypnotizing Cas before panic set in. The light was getting closer but it did not look like a flashlight. There was nothing attached to it, and as it closed in on Cas, he finally saw the shape. 

A floating jack-o-lantern with a grotesque face leered at him out of the darkness. Except, as Cas kept his eyes frozen to the image, an arm protruded from the back of the pumpkin and up to the shoulders. But the night seemed to swallow the figure’s head, because it wasn’t there. 

Without a sound, Cas turned and booked it down the little bit of path he could see with a combination of the pumpkin light and his own flashlight (15%). 

Cas didn’t get too far before he tripped over a root and stumbled face first into the dirt. A gush of warmth fell over his lips and down his chin, followed by the sting of a split lip and scraped hands. 

Heavy footfalls grew louder behind him and Cas scrambled to his feet. His hand stung and he felt the breeze cool the blood on his chin, but all that seemed in a distance universe as he tried attempt number two at fleeing. 

Once again, his efforts were thwarted. A strong hand enclosed on his upper arm. Cas turned, almost in slow motion, to face the headless horror. Dressed in all black, the figure would have blended into the darkness surrounding them had it not been for the glowing pumpkin. 

Cas opened his mouth, ready to betray any last amount of courage he had by screaming. Nothing came out but a dull  _ huh? _

The shoulders shook before him as it dropped the pumpkin to the ground. It made a hollow  _ thunk _ against the rocks, indicating hard plastic. The shoulders shook some more and before Cas could pass a thought, they came off. Underneath, a young man around Cas’s own age with short hair and a smile ten miles long. 

“Sorry man, I can’t talk with that thing on,” he said, tucking the faux shoulders under his arm, “I guess I did look freaky. Oh, you’re bleeding?”

Cas touched his hand to his lip and chin again and felt the cooling wetness. 

“Come on, let’s get back to my station I have a first aid kit there.” The guy looked incredibly guilty, and Cas went on and let him. Annoyance bled into anger for the third time that evening, and now Cas was injured as a direct result. 

“Why were you chasing me?” He grumbled as he followed the man along through the darkness, the stupid plastic jack-o-lantern back lighting the path ahead of them. 

“They radioed in a missing guest, last seen by the Skele-Trump. I was closest so I went looking for you,” He glanced back with the light, “Sorry about making you fall, I’ll get reamed out for that.”

_ Good _ was all Cas could think as a hefty wind gust blew through, biting through his windbreaker. He shivered, and stumbled over another rock. He hated everything about everything. 

They arrived at a makeshift wooden house, where this headless horseman must wait for the unsuspecting  _ guests _ . Cas saw no horse. 

The painted on door almost laughed at Cas, jeering over the fact he couldn’t get inside the building for warmth. 

A walkie-talkie sat on the makeshift window sill, and the man snatched it up.

“Mothership this is Ichabod come in, over.” He winked at Cas. Cas rolled his eyes and turned his back.

The radio talked back in garbled nonsense Cas didn’t even bother to listen to. Ichabod answered whatever question the Mothership asked  _ Found him, some injuries not serious, bring it around. _ And placed it back on the sill. 

“Alright, hang on just a minute I’ll get those bandages.” Ichabod disappeared behind the building to fetch the first aid kit. Cas could feel the blood drying on his chin, a good sign. It occurred to him he didn’t even ask for Ichabod’s name. He decided he didn’t care. 

“I’m Dean by the way,” Ichabod-Dean said coming back from behind the building, “We’re not supposed to give away our real names but I feel kind of bad making you trip and all that.”

“It’s okay, just give me the kit I can take care of it.” Cas took the kit and rifled through it. Basic stuff for a basic injury. 

“You sure? I have first aid training,” Dean said, clearly uncomfortable with a  _ guest _ taking care of themselves. 

“I’m finishing up a PHD in Pediatrics, I know how to take care of a split lip,” Cas grumbled again. He hated he kept doing that but he didn’t want to speak to this guy too much. His mouth hurt. 

Cas set about the task of wiping the dried blood from his face. The split lip was minor, and turned out the bigger blood source was a scrape on his chin. He worked methodically, ignoring the stares from Dean. 

Finished, Cas felt like an idiot with a bandage on his chin but was grateful a swath of his own DNA wasn’t all over his mouth and chin. His anger subsiding, he silently handed the kit back to Dean, who seemed to have taken the hint to stop talking. 

They stood awkward in the wind and the dull lantern light. Dean sniffed and huddled against the wall of the building to shelter himself from the wind. Cas didn’t feel as cold now that he healed himself up and knew help was on the way. 

“Where do you go to college?” Dean asked, finally breaking the tension. 

“Amherst,” Cas answered. 

“Same,” Dean nodded. Cas glanced at him but Dean was staring at the ground. 

“Same? What do you study?” Cas asked, aware he was sucking himself into a conversation when his mouth was still sort of numb.

“Getting my masters in Mechanical Engineering.” Dean said, still looking at the ground, kicking a rock. Cas thought of a child who had been reprimanded. He felt a twinge of shame, letting his temper get the better of him when without Dean, he would still be out in the forest with the skeletons. 

They kept talking, Cas asking the questions this time, until Dean finally picked his head up. Under the makeup and the heavy, black victorian suit Cas figured he possibly had some shade of attractiveness. 

The people-mover hayride lumbered back through the woods, blessedly empty. Dean helped Cas on (annoyingly) and sat on the other side of him (thankfully). The ride back was silent but it wasn’t the uncomfortable silence back at the building. They knew a bit more about each other now. Dean was finishing up his Mechanical Engineering masters, lived off campus just a block away from Cas, and had a cat that he hates. Cas let Dean know he was aiming for his PHD, he lived a block away from him, and loved cats (to a point). 

They reached the parking lot, and the only friend that stayed behind was the one who brought Cas to the trail to begin with, Henry. He stood next to his car, a frown on his face, displeased with being left behind by the group. 

_ That makes two of us _ Cas thought as he jerked to a stop. He looked over at Dean again who leaned over to speak with the tractor driver. Cas figured he might as well make some sort of friendship with Dean, since he probably lost a few tonight.

Dean beat him to it. 

“Do you like scary movies?” He asked, turning back to Cas. 

Cas wasn’t particular about it. He liked movies in general. 

“I like movies in general.” He answered. 

Dean nodded to the driver who got off his tractor then turned back to Cas fully. 

“We’re going down to the Palace to watch the horror marathon. All terrible B-list 80’s movies. Want to come along?” 

Cas glanced at Henry, who glared back at him. It only took Cas two seconds to make up his mind. 

“Sure, let me grab my bag.”

He hopped down and marched over to the car and grabbed his bag. 

“What the fuck happened to you?” Henry asked as he saw Cas’s face under the spotlight on the barn. 

“Donald Trump beat me up. Listen, I’m going with them tonight you can leave.” Cas stated, not even staying to see Henry’s reaction. But as Cas walked away he swore he heard Henry mutter “Oh NOW he tells me”

His face was sore, his body ached against the chilling wind, but Cas was starting to feel better as he went over to Dean and the driver (who Cas later learned was named Benny) who stood patiently waiting for him with laughter and smiles on their face. 

**Author's Note:**

> September's SPN Writing Challenge!  
> The theme was Autumn, and I got "Pumpkin"  
> I wanted to write a little friendship fic!  
> This is UNBETA'D so if there are any mistakes please kindly let me know!


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